TAMPA, Fla. — Since Alex Rodriguez last stepped into a batter's box during a game, Boston and San Francisco have won World Series titles, the New York Yankees missed the playoffs in consecutive years and a new commissioner has taken office. He has served a one-year drug suspension, filed and withdrawn multiple lawsuits, gone through more attorneys than most people retain in a lifetime and filled more back-page headlines than players who actually appeared in games. A-Rod returns on Wednesday for his first game in 17 months, slated to be a designated hitter for two or three at-bats against the Philadelphia Phillies at Steinbrenner Field in New York's spring training home...

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TAMPA, Fla. — Since Alex Rodriguez last stepped into a batter's box during a game, Boston and San Francisco have won World Series titles, the New York Yankees missed the playoffs in consecutive years and a new commissioner has taken office. He has...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — In describing Jesse Biddle's 2014 season, tough would be an understatement.
The Phillies' 2010 first-round draft pick went 3-4 with a 3.18 ERA in his first 10 starts with Double-A Reading before getting caught in a hailstorm that...

Like robins perched in your backyard tree or the buds of flowers emerging in your garden, the ping of an aluminum bat hitting a softball or the thud of a baseball popping into a catcher's mitt are among the first signs of spring.
But those sights and...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alex Rodriguez will not play in the New York Yankees' exhibition opener against Philadelphia in Clearwater on Tuesday.Back from a season-long suspension for violations of baseball's drug agreement and labor contract, Rodriguez was not...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It wasn't anywhere close to the lineup fans are going to see come Opening Day, although, a few players who could be on the 25-man roster come April 6 saw action Sunday afternoon as the Phillies hosted the University of Tampa for an...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies had trouble getting production from a number of places on the roster last year and left field was one of them.
Domonic Brown has moved to right field, but with the outfield depth the Phillies have in camp, it doesn't...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Not every baseball player would be open to a position change, especially not after just completing their first full year in the majors, but that's not Cody Asche's attitude.
When the Phillies approached the third baseman earlier this...

Pat Burrell, who is fourth all-time for the Phillies in home runs with 251 and was part of the 2008 World Series team, will be the 37th inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame.
Burrell was taken first overall in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft...

Jimmy Rollins savors a bite of bacon at his locker, then steals a quick glimpse at the bright blue No. 11 uniform hanging behind him. It's before 8 a.m. in the desert and the veteran shortstop becomes a bit poetic about it all, the cross-country move back...

Last year was certainly a year to forget for Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown.
He set a career high for games played in the majors, but hit just .235. Brown's 10 home runs were less than half of his output during his 2013 All-Star season.
His lowest...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Each day this spring, whether he's walking into the clubhouse in the morning, stretching with teammates or in the cage taking batting practice, Jeff Francoeur is flashing his signature beaming smile.
That's something you might not...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies are in rebuild mode.
It's been talked about a lot this offseason and will be talked about until it's complete.
General manager Pat Gillick said the team won't compete until at least 2017, but who knows exactly how long it...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — For the first time since his last start for the Phillies on July 31, Cliff Lee faced batters Wednesday during live batting practice at the Carpenter Complex.
Lee said it was the most intense session he's thrown since he re-strained the...

Ryan Howard has showed up to Spring Training displaying a number of changes this year.
He reported to camp noticeably thinner, which a number of his coaches have commented on. He also seems to be healthier, moving around the bases quicker than he has...

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels did little Saturday to clear up comments he recently made regarding his eagerness to begin the season with a team in a rebuilding mode.
The 31-year-old Hamels threw a bullpen session on...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It's amazing the difference one year can make.
Last February, Freddy Galvis entered camp a lock to grab a bench spot on the Phillies' roster as a utility infielder. Then he was hospitalized during spring training with MRSA, began the...

Each spring brings Major League Baseball's teams a chance to clear the slate and begin afresh.
Optimism typically runs rampant — although there won't be much of that in Clearwater for the next six weeks — as a number of veterans, along with fresh...

At the end of the seventh inning for six Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs home games a season, employees working the jersey auction tables on the Coca-Cola Park concourse once had to do their best WWE imitations.
They had to wrestle clipboards and pens...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Tuesday morning at the Carpenter Complex at Bright House Field, skies were gray — much like the outlook for the 2015 Phillies — but temperatures were in the upper-60s as players reported for the first day of full squad workouts.
...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — When the 2011 season came to an end for Chad Billingsley, he had completed his fifth straight year of double digit wins and had posted at least a .500 record in each of his six major league seasons.
He could be counted on for a minimum...